Edelstein: PA Wants Apartheid

Public Diplomacy Minister reacts to PLO official's statement that no Jews will be allowed in 'Palestine'.

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 9/15/2011, 1:15 AM

Minister Yuli Edelstein

Yoni Kempinski

Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein accused the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) of advocating apartheid, in comments he made Wednesday.

He was referring to statements made by Maen Areikat (or Erikat), the PLO's ambassador to the United States, who met with reporters Tuesday in Washington D.C. and confirmed that Jews would not be allowed to live in the future state of Palestine.

"After endless campaigns of delegitimization against Israel, and attempts to brand it as an apartheid state, it turns out that the Palestinians are the ones interested in apartheid," accused Edelstein.

"I wonder if Areikat's statement that the two nations need to live separately means that one million Israeli Arabs are not of his people."

The Weekly Standard's John McCormack reported that Areikat claimed the state of "Palestine" would tolerate minorities. "Asked by the Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein if, following the establishment of a Palestinian state, 'there would be no Jews in the West Bank or Gaza,' Areikat answered in the affirmative. 'We have to be separated, we have to work on our own national identities,' he said."